Eye Makeup

I’m back with a Tom Ford Beauty post! By popular request I have a review and swatches of all five new Tom Ford Eye Color Quads in Arabesque, De La Creme, Mink Mirage, Sous Le Sable and Noir Fume ($88 each for .31/9 g). As a long-time Tom Ford Beauty lover I could not have been more excited about new palettes, especially since most of the new ones are neutrals! Unfortunately most of these are strong misses for me and not as stellar as the other quads in terms of pigment and color payoff. Still I think there are some nice wearable options good for everyday wear.

Top Row: De La Creme, Arabesque, Noir Fume
Bottom Row: Sous le Sable, Mink Mirage

More thoughts on each palette below, ranked from best to worst based on my testing experience.

Mink Mirage

Mink Mirage is the best palette pigment-wise and it has all matte colors. I believe it’s replacing Cocoa Mirage which had some of the most boring colors ever but had amazing pigment and actually looked a lot better on the eyes than in the pan. Mink Mirage has a matte cream, a soft matte brown, a medium brown and smokey black. The powders in this one are easy to blend and perform flawlessly for a nice smokey neutral eye. It’s easy to wear for any occasion and quite versatile to take from day to night.

Wearing:

• Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer in Sand
• MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural
• Charlotte Tilbury Highlighter Wand in Peachgasm
• Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution in Pillow Talk
• Charlotte Tilbury Lip Collagen in Rosy Plump
• Tom Ford Eye Color Quad in Mink Mirage

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Noir Fume

Noir Fume is the next best one for a soft smokey taupe eye look. It doesn’t swatch the best on the arm but on the eyes it layers beautifully for an effortless smokey eye. There’s a soft sheer ivory which smooth and evens out the lids. Other colors include a sheer golden brown that almost has slight olive tones, a shimmery taupe and a cool deep taupe grey brown matte.

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De La Creme

De La Creme has the prettiest color scheme out of all the new palettes in my opinion but colors don’t show up on my medium tan skin as well as I had hoped. If you’re light or fair I think it will show up better. It has a perfect warm champagne peach shimmer, a warm copper, a warm soft matte brown and a medium warm matte brown. If I layer heavily on top of a creamy emollient cream base color adheres better on my skin – but I have to pack/pat it on. Any blending causes the colors to sheer out and almost disappear onto the same soft brown wash. I wish this had the same texture as the Nude Dip/Honeymoon quads because I think the color would show up better on the skin.

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Sous le Sable

Sous le Sable also has such a gorgeous color palette and it swatches beautifully on my arm, but on my eyes, it disappears into my skin and pigment is barely noticeable. I have to pack on the colors with a heavy hand to see any distinction between the bottom mattes. The shimmery rose is so SO pretty but doesn’t show up on my medium skin. The pale matte rose has decent pigment but the other three didn’t perform as I had hoped. This made my heart sink – the colors are what I had hoped Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk would look like (which gives me a horrible pink eye look). Tom Ford’s Sous le Sable has more brown undertones making the color scheme better – I just wish the colors would actually show up on my lids.

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Arabesque

Arabesque is the worst of the five. I’m a huge fan of the glitter palettes because I think they make great toppers. I applied these in a patting motion on the lids and there is barely any color. Just sparkle in which case I feel the Golden Peach Cream Eye Duo or even the Golden Mink Quad are much better.

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Out of all five the only two I truly feel are worth the splurge are Mink Mirage and Noir Fume. The other three are definitely not worth the $88 price tag and are huge disappointments compared to other Tom Ford Quads I’ve tried.

I personally think the color scheme of the new launches are truly beautiful, but that’s where it ends for me. Pigment and color payoff are simply not there which is surprising and disappointing to me considering Tom Ford usually launches high quality products.

Have you tried any of the new quads? What did you think? Did they end up working for you or did you find them patchy/sheer? I bought mine from Nordstrom and Sephora. They’re also available at all Tom Ford Beauty counters now.

 

Tom Ford Beauty launched new eye makeup with three new Eye Color Quads and a long-wear collection called Emotionproof. I have a look at the three new quads, two of the cream shadows and the new mascara.

• Eye Color Quads ($88 each for .21 oz/6 g) in Body Heat*, Double Indemnity and Suspicion
• Emotionproof Mascara ($46 for 8 ml)
• Emotionproof Eye Color ($46 for .24 oz/7 g) in Brut Rose and Casino

New Eye Color Quads

Tom Ford launched three new Eye Color Quads in Body Heat*, Double Indemnity and Suspicion. I was surprised three new ones popped up since he launched seven late last year. In case you missed it you can see the seven here. For those not familiar to Tom Ford Beauty, there are several different formulas of his shadows. The three new ones have that metallic stiff texture similar to Nude Dip, Honeymoon, Virgin Orchid and Daydream. They’re still powders but have an almost foiled sheen to them.

The three new palettes are a lot more wearable for my medium-tan warm olive complexion. I’m really loving both Body Heat and Suspicion for something a little more fun than your standard everyday neutral.

Body Heat

Body Heat has a shimmering pale rose, shimmering soft reddish rose, medium shimmery coffee brown, shimmery deeper brown. The two browns are very close to my eye, the deepest one does work to intensify the look and is slightly cooler toned. I think this palette goes well with a soft rose or pink lip. Application is smooth, pigment blends and layers beautifully, lasting power is excellent.

Double Indemnity

Double Indemnity is one of the best smokey eye palettes I’ve seen. Most traditional smokey palettes are too cool-toned with silvers and greys. This has a unique mix which makes it more wearable for my olive skin. It has a pale shimmering icy white, a shimmering silver with a hint of sage, shimmery smokey cool brown and a black with silver flecks.

Suspicion

Suspicion has the golden tones that I pretty much live for. It does pull a little yellow and the orangey-gold is pretty vivid. When you layer all the colors together it neutralizes the yellow a little for a more neutral warm gold sheen. This one is the most metallic of the three. If you can’t wear ultra metallic shades you might want to pass on this one and I’d recommend you opt for either Chanel Lueurs Ambrees (so pretty) or the Pat McGrath Sublime Bronze Ambition (for more variety in colors at a better price point)

Comparison swatches to other Tom Ford quads:

Tom Ford Nude Dip, Body Heat, Honeymoon
Titanium Smoke, Double Indemnity, Supernouveau
Golden Mink, Suspicion, Leopard Sun

Looks with each of the three palettes, for skintone reference I wear the Tom Ford Traceless Perfecting Foundation in Natural (usually around MAC NC35):

• Look 1: Tom Ford Body Heat, wearing Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution in Pillow Talk with Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb in Fussy
• Look 2: Double Indemnity, wearing Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb in Fenty Glow
• Look 3: Suspicion, wearing Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution in Sexy Sienna with Lip Lustre in Blondie on top

 

Three Beauty Looks

Emotionproof Mascara

There’s a new Emotionproof Mascara which seems to have replaced my holy grail Waterproof Extreme. To me they perform the same – it adds volume, holds the curl, does not smudge. The only difference is Emotionproof tends to clump on the brush very quickly after a couple uses. I’m used to some level of clumping with mascara on the brush as it picks up product. I wish the interior had some kind of design to wipe off product a little better. Still anything that won’t smudge and that holds the curl is a winner in my book. I can just clean off the wand every 4 uses or so.

Emotionproof Eye Colors

Last I bought two of the Emotionproof Eye Colors in Brut Rose and Casino. I’ll start with the pros: both shades I bought are really pretty and easy to wear. They set pretty quickly and once they do set they don’t budge. Cons: everyone seems to say these are like overpriced MAC Paint Pots and I pretty much agree. I think they’re nice if you want a long lasting budge-proof cream shadow. However since they dry so fast you have to blend and apply quickly – once they set, layering more cream on tends to make it look streaky and dry. I don’t think they’re horrible like some reviews have said, but I definitely don’t think they’re anything special or splurge-worthy unless you absolutely love the colors. I think Brut Rose is really pretty but it seems pretty dupeable.

Swatch comparisons to Laura Mercier Caviar Chrome Eye Stick in Magnetic Pink, By Terry Ombre Blackstar in Frozen Quartz, Laura Mericer Caviar Eye Stick in Burnished Bronze and Charlotte Tilbury Eyes to Mesmerize in Mona Lisa

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Overall loving the new quads the most. Based on what I’ve seen from other Tom Ford quads you can find some similar options among different palettes. I really like the look of Body Heat the best. If you want more variety and color range within a single palette but still like shimmer finishes I think you’ll find more of a diverse options within a compact by trying out the Pat McGrath palettes. I think the new Emotionproof Mascara is good, but part of me thinks it’s just Waterproof Extreme with a slightly different tube (because of the clumping issue) and different name.

You can find the new Tom Ford Eye Products out now. I bought mine from Sephora and Nordstrom. Also available at Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s, Beautylish and Saks Fifth Avenue.

 

 

Body Heat sent as a press sample. Other items purchased by me.